A data processing system (system) interacts with another data processing system using a data network. Generally, during the interaction, one of the systems sends data, which the other system receives. The interacting systems exchange data in this manner any number of times, in any suitable form, and in any suitable sequence.
A request-response transaction is an example of data interactions between two or more systems. For example, one system (requesting system) can send data in the form of a request message. The other system (responding system) receives the data of the request message. The responding system sends data of the information requested in the request message. The requesting system receives the data of the requested information. Many request-response transactions can occur in this manner between the requesting system and the responding system. Generally, the requesting role and the responding role are specific to a transaction, and can reverse in another transaction.
One example of such data interaction is found in database transactions. A database client application executing on a client data processing system sends a query (request) to a database server application executing on a server data processing system. The database server responds to the database client with a result set (response).
Furthermore, one or both systems engaged in data interactions may exist in a cloud. Cloud computing is one of the emerging technologies that is enabling flexible and efficient computing. Cloud computing offers an on-demand model for computing that reduces, or in some cases, completely avoids the hardware and software maintenance costs for an end user of the computing services.
Cloud computing also generally has a lower total cost of ownership as compared to captive computing capabilities, such as dedicated/owned data processing systems. The flexibility of using selected computing resources when they are needed, as a service, is a key advantage of cloud computing that endear the cloud model to all types of users, including business enterprises, high power computing groups, and individual users.